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Industry

China lodges protest after NZ foreign minister’s ‘go back’ slur in parliament

Targeting of Chinese-born opposition MP Lawrence Xu-Nan escalates from fiery exchange to broader diplomatic issue The official protest on Thursday, accompanied by a rare social media statement from Beijing’s ambassador in Wellington, escalated a fiery domestic exchange over race and governance into a broader diplomatic issue. In a statement, the Chinese embassy in Wellington urged New Zealand to “treasure the equal and mutually beneficial relationship between China and New Zealand, and do more things conducive to bilateral ties, not the opposite”. The embassy also highlighted the contributions of the local Chinese community, calling on Wellington to “respect and protect their legitimate rights and interests, and create an open, inclusive and non‑discriminatory environment”. In Beijing on Thursday, Chinese foreign ministry urged “relevant people in New Zealand” “not to play up China as an issue in its domestic politics”.

July 30, 2026

Industry

‘Quite disappointed’? Trump’s mixed signals ahead of Xi’s September trip

US President Donald Trump said he would be “quite disappointed” if his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping broke a personal promise not to arm Iran. His comment on Wednesday came alongside renewed accusations that long-time US health official Anthony Fauci, who led the US response to Covid-19, helped shield Beijing from scrutiny over the origins of the pandemic. Separately, Reuters reported that Iran was expected to receive 300 to 400 Chinese-made shoulder-fired air-defence missile systems within...

July 30, 2026

Industry

Why did an Okinawan delegation visit a Beijing cemetery amid China-Japan tensions?

The trip highlights historical ties between China and the Ryukyu Islands that Beijing is leveraging as a counterweight in its row with Tokyo During the visit in June – first made public by the Global Times on Sunday – about a dozen delegates travelled to the site southeast of Beijing, which honours six centuries of ties between China and the former island nation later annexed by Japan. During the memorial ceremony, the delegation members paid tribute with traditional rituals, incense and liquor. Some members also wore traditional attire, according to the Global Times. Among the visitors was Tetsumi Takara, a former Japanese lawmaker who told the newspaper that historical ties between China and Ryukyu “should not be forgotten, distorted, or hijacked by politics”. The Beijing site holds the graves of more than 10 Ryukyu Kingdom officials and envoys from the Qing dynasty (1644-1911), including an envoy who objected to Japan’s 1879 annexation of the kingdom, and a student who took his own life to protest against the islands’ loss of independence, according to state news agency Xinhua.

July 30, 2026

Industry

Brazil becomes world’s top buyer of Chinese cars as imports jump 147%

Purchases hit US$5.2 billion in five months, pushing the sector’s trade gap to its widest since records began in 1997 The figure, drawn from Chinese customs data, is up 146.9 per cent from the US$2.1 billion recorded a year earlier, when Brazil ranked sixth among buyers. Russia bought US$5 billion over the same months this year and Belgium purchased US$3.8 billion. Electrified models drove the surge, accounting for US$4.5 billion of the total. April and May alone contributed US$2.7 billion, a concentration consistent with stockpiling ahead of the duty change rather than sustained demand. Brazil also topped the global ranking for electric and hybrid vehicles specifically, ahead of Belgium and Britain. Electric and hybrid models made up 87 per cent of Brazil’s vehicle imports from China last year, against 33 per cent in 2021, a shift that has remade the composition of the trade in five years. Figures from Brazil’s foreign trade secretariat compiled by the Brazil-China Business Council put first-half purchases at US$5.35 billion, more than double the value of all vehicles imported from France.

July 29, 2026

Industry

Can China’s EV boom give it decisive edge in geopolitical tech war?

China may increasingly seek to use its dominance in the global electric vehicle industry as geopolitical leverage, giving Beijing greater influence over countries dependent on its technology and supply chains, according to analysts. “With China, the strategy is different. It’s to overwhelm the industry, capture it, and use it ultimately as leverage,” said Michael Dunne, CEO of Dunne Insights, an auto advisory firm. “When it comes to crunch time, they say, ‘Oh, by the way, we’re the source of all...

July 29, 2026

Industry

US sanctions mainland China, Hong Kong shipping firms over Iranian oil deliveries

Six targeted tankers allegedly carried crude to China as Washington links economic campaign to US Navy enforcement The United States on Wednesday sanctioned a group of mainland Chinese and Hong Kong shipping companies accused of operating vessels that transported Iranian oil to China, extending Washington’s economic campaign against Tehran alongside its naval blockade. The US State Department said eight companies were designated for operating vessels that moved Iranian crude oil and petrochemical products to China and the United Arab Emirates as part of Iran’s sanctions-evading “shadow fleet”. Six of the eight vessels identified by the US Treasury Department were specifically accused of carrying Iranian crude to China, in some cases transporting millions of barrels during 2026. The designations freeze any assets belonging to the targeted companies within US jurisdiction and generally prohibit US individuals and businesses from dealing with them. Foreign financial institutions and other companies could also face sanctions exposure if they continue to conduct certain transactions involving the designated firms.

July 29, 2026

Industry

Fauci refuses to answer questions at heated US Senate hearing on Covid-19 origins

Republicans press former health official over Wuhan research funding as Democrats accuse committee of pursuing political vendetta The extraordinary appearance reopened one of Washington’s most politically divisive disputes: whether the pandemic began through natural transmission from animals or a laboratory-related incident in Wuhan, and whether US officials adequately scrutinised research conducted there with American funding. Fauci, who led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and became a prominent face of the US government’s Covid-19 response during the pandemic, was subpoenaed to appear on Wednesday before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on the virus’s origins. Committee chair Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky, has repeatedly accused Fauci of covering up evidence supporting the lab-leak theory tied to the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China. In his opening statement, Fauci accused Paul of having an “obsession” with seeing him charged, and argued that answering the committee’s questions could expose him to politically motivated prosecution.

July 29, 2026

Industry

China’s Type 076 amphibious assault ship Sichuan in final tests with drone catapult

CCTV computer-generated footage shows how the 40,000-tonne Sichuan uses electromagnetic catapult to launch GJ-21 drones The 40,000-tonne Sichuan had full deck line markings, meaning it had entered the final testing phase, military expert Wei Dongxu told state broadcaster CCTV. The amphibious assault ship, which has a 250-metre-long (820 feet) and 62-metre-wide flight deck, is expected to become one of Beijing’s most important assets in any potential action against Taiwan. It is designed to transport landing craft, troops, armoured vehicles and aircraft to support amphibious operations. Wei said the next step was to conduct ship-aircraft integration training. CCTV reported earlier that both the catapult system and the arresting gear had been completed. In a separate video released by CCTV on Tuesday, the Sichuan was seen with deck-line markings and deploying decoys. As the only amphibious assault ship in the world equipped with an electromagnetic catapult system, the Sichuan is expected to launch crewed and uncrewed fixed-wing aircraft, including the GJ-21 large stealth attack drone, as well as helicopters.

July 29, 2026

Industry

‘Practical’ young Africans leaning towards China over US and away from ideology

Youth survey of 16 countries finds an overwhelming preference for the Asian power, with 95 per cent calling Beijing an ally The African Youth Survey polled 4,901 respondents aged 18 to 24 and split equally between males and females, in 16 of Africa’s 54 countries, asking them which foreign powers had influence on their country. The report said 81 per cent agreed that the US was influential, while 79 per cent expressed the same opinion about China. About 95 per cent of those who identified China as influential held favourable views of the country, compared with 85 per cent of those who said the same of the US – a jump of 19 percentage points from the Asian giant’s score of 76 per cent in the 2022 edition. Similarly, 95 per cent of all those interviewed viewed China as an ally, compared with 88 per cent that saw the US in the same light, according to the survey, conducted by the global research company PSB Insights for the Ichikowitz Family Foundation. Much of the swing in positive feeling towards China was achieved through the physical accomplishments of the Chinese across Africa, according to South African industrialist and philanthropist Ivor Ichikowitz, who commissioned the survey.

July 29, 2026

Industry

China should lean into its defining AI advantage – accessibility

China’s emerging advantage in artificial intelligence (AI) is not that it already has the world’s best chips or strongest frontier models. It is that Chinese companies are increasingly providing capable intelligence at a price the global market can afford. AI is fast becoming everyday infrastructure. It is metered by usage and embedded in businesses, public services and devices, much like electricity or cloud computing. In an infrastructure market, leadership depends on affordability,...

July 29, 2026

Industry

A new peak in US-China tech rivalry? Tibet drone hub launches on Mount Everest

Centre’s establishment represents Beijing’s first research and application platform dedicated to drones operating at high altitudes It also supports Beijing’s broader push for low-altitude economic development and industrial growth across autonomous regions, according to the university. Several senior military officials from aviation rescue and emergency response teams attended the centre’s opening ceremony. It followed the launch in September last year of China’s first high-altitude uncrewed equipment test base in Ngari prefecture, also known as Ali, a strategically important region in western Tibet bordering India.

July 29, 2026

Industry

Having babies in space; China’s first Fields Medal winners: 7 science highlights

We have put together stories from our coverage on science from the past two weeks to help you stay informed. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Chinese scientists have bad news on having babies in space If the future of humanity lies in the vast expanse of space, could humans actually perpetuate the species beyond Earth? As a team of Chinese scientists has discovered – the outlook is not very positive. 2. China plans to strengthen Great Green Wall...

July 29, 2026